Angela Andrews had spent the day at Bradford Coroner’s Court listening to evidence regarding the deaths of her 42-year-old husband Martin and their 19-year-old son Jack who drowned in the canal at Cooper Bridge, Bradley, on June 16.

The duo had been enthusiastic converts to the pastime of magnet fishing, a US-inspired craze for dredging canals and rivers using a powerful magnet and long rope with the hope of finding treasure.

Mrs Andrews said they had got to know about the hobby through the internet and had set off from their home in Pudsey sometime after 6am.

However, for reasons that will never be discovered, they had ended up in the canal, which, with its high-sided banks, was easy to get into but extremely difficult to get out of.

Susan Turner, who was walking her dog with her husband Noel, was the first person to raise the alarm after finding high-value possessions including Mr Andrews’ mobile phone strewn randomly across the bank.

After a further 40 minutes when she returned she became increasingly concerned and phoned the police.

In a tragic twist Mrs Andrews phoned her husband’s phone only to find a police officer answering it.

Angela Andrews, wife and mother of Martin and Jack Andrews who died in Huddersfield canal

An underwater police diving crew were called into action and later that evening at 7.15pm two bodies were recovered.

The court heard that they were both in a vertical position and heartbreakingly were just a foot apart when they died.

A pathologist report found that they had both died from drowning.

It emerged that both men were habitual cannabis users but it was unclear whether this had had any bearing on the tragedy.

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Canal and River Trust Health and Safety advisor Stephen Williamson told senior coroner Martin Fleming that people were not supposed to carry out magnet fishing but that it was a very new hobby and work remained to do on getting to grips with its dangers.

The court heard that since the fatalities guidance regarding the dangers of magnet fishing had been moved to a more prominent position on its website.

Mr Williamson said these were the first fatalities to be recorded in the area.

Coroner Martin Fleming heard that the dangers associated with magnet fishing were at the time more connected to the risks of finding ammunition, pistols and even a WW2 grenade.

The scene of the father and son drowning tragedy on the Calder and Hebble Canal, Cooper Bridge.

He concluded that the men’s death was as a result of misadventure - that is an accident resulting from unintended consequences.

He called upon the Trust to look again at its procedures regarding canal safety and see whether these needed to be improved.

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And he warned magnet fishing enthusiasts who dreamed of finding treasure under the water that what “seems to be a harmless pastime does carry inherent dangers.”

“People need to step back and think very carefully about what seems to be a harmless pastime.”

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